Child Rearing - Coping & Emotional Support: Summary & Data Highlights

Emotional support for child rearing is not equally available to all King County parents.

In 2011, parents of children younger than 18 years old were asked how well they coped with the challenges of parenting. They were also asked, “How often do you have someone that you can turn to for day-to-day emotional help with raising children?”

Overall, 82% of parents said they had someone to turn to for emotional support with child rearing all or most of the time. The following groups of parents, however, reported getting LESS emotional support than comparison groups:

People of color (70%) vs. non-Hispanic Whites (87%)

Foreign born (69%) vs. U.S. born (86%)

People for whom English was not their first language (60% vs. 85%)

Family income <$50,000 (69%) vs. income ≥$75,000 (85%)

Parent was not part of a couple (68%) vs. in a couple relationship (84%)

Parents living in Seattle were more likely to have someone they could turn to regularly for emotional support than parents in other King County regions.

60% of King County parents report coping “very well” with child rearing.

Parents who had emotional support with child rearing all or most of the time were twice as likely to report coping very well than those with less support.

There were no other demographic differences in coping very well, and no differences by region or age of child.

"There needs to be more programs like the Healthy Start program …. It helps just to have someone tell you that you’re doing a good job …. You’re like, ‘Am I doing this right?’ … They tell you what games you can play with them … all these different things that help with temper tantrums and potty training. Just all these things that are so, you know, complex for a parent to have to deal with…. Just knowing about all these different things – it helps! It puts me at ease a little bit. Cause then, it’s like I’m not worrying as much that, you know, ‘What if this is bad?’ ‘What if I’m not doing it right?’"

Teen mom living at her parents’ South King County home with her boyfriend and their 2-year-old child